Carol of the Bells
by princessyuki08
Summary: After several hundred years, Sasha and Allie find themselves making their way back to the North Pole after an accident leaves them stranded in the North Pole. First story in Santa Clause Series. Bernard/OC, eventual Charlie/OC and Jack/OC.
1. Chapter 1: Christmas to Remember

**Chapter One: Christmas to Remember**

 _'_ _We create our fate every day we live.' – Henry Miller_

It was the year sixteen hundred, my two friends, Bernard and Sean, my younger sister Allie and I walked out of the workshop and ran to the stables to see the reindeer and the sleigh before Santa made his Christmas Eve routes.

"Sasha, slow down! We're not even supposed be on break. And the rulebook says that we are not allowed to leave our work areas until Santa has left to make his runs." Sean yelled at me trying to catch up to us.

"You wanted to come, Sean, so put a sock in it." I told him. That got a small laugh out of Bernard. I whispered to him, "You think he's always gonna recite from that book?"

He merely shrugged, and said "Probably."

It's not that I don't care for the rules, don't get me wrong, I do care most of the time. They are so stupid though; and they could really get us into trouble one day; but it wouldn't be my problem.

"It's not my fault you don't follow the rules." Sean said obviously hearing me and Bernard.

"Do too." I replied.

"Do not." Sean argued.

"Both of you **_shut up_** before we get we get caught! Sasha, you are 1500 years old start acting like it!" My sister, Allie, said starting to get annoyed; and then she started on a rant on how Bernard and I acted like little kids, when the only ones who have an excuse to act like kids where them. Allie 490 years old unlike me, who was 1500 years old and Bernard was 1602, and Sean had just turned 790 years old, but that's beside the point.

We finally got to the stables. The reindeer were ready to go and the sleigh had the sack in it. I leaned over the one of the sides of the sleigh to get my cat out of it and switch it with the puppy that mean Santa forgot about and grabbed my cat instead. I got Pearl out of sleigh and gave her to her 'Father', as Allie puts it, Bernard. And as I put the puppy into the sleigh, my favorite necklace fell. I dove in to get it and Allie went after me.

 **Bernard's P.O.V.**

Sean and I watched as those two dove into the sleigh. I didn't know that necklace meant that much to her.

"What are you boys doing in the stables? …Never mind back up so I can leave, will you?" A voice said behind me and Sean. This was very bad. Extremely bad.

"Uh…yes sir." Sean answered and we both stepped back.

 **Allie's P.O.V.**

 _'_ _Those idiots! What about us?'_ I thought furiously as I heard their conversation with Santa. This Santa wasn't the nicest or most patient man, but that doesn't mean that they should just leave us here.

"Uh Sean, are sure we shouldn't leave?" I heard Bernard say.

 _'_ _Bernard, you are so dead when we get out of here!'_ I thought angrily.

"Good idea; bye Santa." Sean said, and he and Bernard ran out of the stables.

"Peculiar… Why aren't those girls with them? Never mind, knowing them I'd rather not know." Santa said as soon as they left. He got into the sleigh and we all rode of into the twilight sky.

 _'_ _I don't have a very good feeling about this.'_

After a few hours, Sasha and I landed in some rural area in America.

 **Sean's P.O.V.**

After we left the stables, Bernard and I wandered around the village a bit. I felt kind of bad for leaving them in that sleigh, but I don't think they'd be stupid enough to off the sleigh, well I hope they aren't.

"Allie's gonna kill you for not getting her out of the sleigh." I warned him.

He shrugged not really caring and said "Sasha's gonna thank me though."

This made me angry, he had let his stupid crush get in the way of saving them, so Sasha could have some kind of adventure.

"You mean you let them go so she could get out here for a while?" I asked incredulously, "How stupid are you?"

"They'll be back; they're only riding in the sleigh." He said trying to calm down.

"If they never come back, it's your fault." I mumbled.

When Santa came back, he was a new guy and they were gone. They had probably fallen out or stepped out of the sleigh while he was inside a house.


	2. Chapter 2: New Santa

**Chapter Two: New Santa**

 _'_ _I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but I always end up where I need to be.' – Douglas Adams_

 **Allie's P.O.V.**

It's been three centuries since that Christmas. Now I was 884 years old and Sasha had just turned 1894 years old. We weren't old. Elf life spans and human ones are different; physically, a hundred years to an elf would only be a year to a human. We were half elf, so we had their life-span. We pretended I was seven and Sasha was eighteen; like we have been for the past century now.

It was Christmas Eve here and just like every year since we've known Mr. Calvin; we were invited to spend Christmas with him and his son Charlie. We saw Mr. Calvin often. He was divorced and Sasha babysat Charlie often, and since we known them for along time, we were allowed to call them by their first names, but I prefer calling Mr. Calvin, Mr. Calvin.

 **Sasha's P.O.V.**

We walked to Scott's house. When we got there, Charlie and Laura were at the door, and Neil was waiting for Laura in his car. By the looks of it Scott had just pulled into the driveway.

"Hey Charlie!" I said with a small smile playing on my lips, "Hey Laura, it's nice to see you.

"Oh, hello girls; so, is Christmas going to be the four of you this year?" Laura asked us curiously.

"Yes. Mr. Calvin invited us." Allie said looking down, "He doesn't think we should spend Christmas alone."

"That was nice of him." Laura nodded, "I wish he had said something."

"It was last minute." I replied as Scott came over to us. He greeted Laura, and kissed Charlie on the head.

"Hi girls." Scott greeted us.

"Merry Christmas, Scott." I greeted him happily, "Thank you for inviting us."

"Happy Christmas, Mr. Calvin." Allie greeted him.

"I would have picked you both up, you know." Scott told us.

"It's okay, I love to walk, plus we got to see the decorations." I said happily.

"I'm used to it." Allie said nonchalantly.

"Do you want to come in?" Scott asked Laura.

"Neil is waiting in the car." She replied, "So-"

"Why doesn't he come in?" Scott cut her off.

"Cause, dad, he says you'll just end up saying something snotty." Charlie answered as he took the presents from his mom.

"Not necessarily." Scott told him, "Could be rude or sarcastic, whatever it takes." Scott waved to Neil, who waved back.

"See, I've have to go." Laura commented.

"C'mon, it's Christmas Eve." Scott insisted, "Just for a minute."

Laura silently agreed. Scott let us all inside.

Charlie set down the presents by the tree. We took off our coats and hung then up, and then set down the gifts we had brought for him and Scott by the tree.

"There aren't that many presents over there." Charlie commented to his dad as he left the living room.

"That's because Santa isn't here yet." Scott told him.

"Neil doesn't believe in Santa." Charlie replied.

"Well, Neil's head comes to a point." Scott jabbed as Neil honked his horn.

"Neil's smart, he's a doctor." Charlie commented.

"He's not a doctor, he's a psychiatrist." Scott corrected him as Neil continued to lay on the horn, and then told him to take off his coat. He went over to talk to Laura, not too happy that Neil had told him there was no Santa Claus. Laura and Neil wanted Charlie to have a firm grasp on reality, while Scott didn't believe he should have his imagination taken away.

I looked down at Charlie, he didn't need to hear their argument.

"Charlie-" I started to say, but I was too late. He had decided he had heard enough.

"Why do you guys always have to fight?" He questioned them.

"I swear we're not fighting." Scott promised him, "It's your mom's singing." He told him, Laura went along with it silently annoyed at his comment, "It sounds a lot like fighting, doesn't it?" He added, "Cats even." He then changed the subject, "The trouble is, Neil and your mom, they don't believe in Santa cause they were real naughty, which is why they'll probably get lumps of coal in their stockings."

"I don't know." Charlie said as he walked over to them. "Seems kind of babyish to believe in that kind of stuff."

It seemed Neil's words had gotten to him. That was a shame, he was a little young to stop believing.

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked him, "I believe in Santa Claus, I'm not a baby." He looked to me and Allie, "Do you believe in Santa Claus?"

"I do." I nodded, "I always have."

"I can't honestly say that I don't." Allie responded.

"Well-" Laura started to speak up.

"Maybe it's about time you left." Scott offered, "We don't want to keep Dr. Pinhead waiting."

Scott went into the kitchen and Laura went over to Charlie. Allie and I left the two alone, Allie went upstairs to put her bag in Charlie's room and I went into the kitchen.

"Need any help with dinner?" I offered as I came into the kitchen.

"I won't turn it down." He responded as we heard Laura and Charlie talk.

"Okay." I nodded, "If you want I could look through this cookbook, while you're flipping through that one." I suggested. He agreed half-heartedly as he continued to listen to Laura and Charlie and we started to flip through the books.

Two hours later, we almost had everything done. Most of it was burnt, but it was salvageable. The turkey was still cooking. I brought Charlie and Allie downstairs. When we came down there was smoke coming from the oven.

"Um, Mr. Calvin, I think the turkey is on fire." Allie commented.

"I told you we left it in too long!" I exclaimed. Scott got the fire extinguisher and put the turkey out.

"That is why you want a high quality fire extinguisher right in the kitchen." Scott told us after he finished hosing down the turkey and the oven.

"Those flames were really big, Dad." Charlie told him.

"Yeah, turkey's funny that way." Scott agreed.

"Dad!" Charlie pointed as flames burst from the turkey. Scott hosed down the turkey and oven again.

"It's done!" Scott exclaimed.

"It's inedible." I reminded reluctantly.

Scott nodded, "We'll eat out."

After searching for a half an hour for a place to eat, we eventually stopped at a Denny's.

"Are you with Hatsutashi?" The hostess, Judy, asked us as we entered the restaurant.

"No." Scott answered.

"Dad, burnt the turkey." Charlie told her.

"Oh." She nodded in understanding, and then showed us to a table.

"Burn a turkey?" Scott asked the man with an injured hand at the table across from us with his son. The man smiled reluctantly and waved. We ordered our drinks, which they seemed to be out of almost everything, and then Judy left.


	3. Chapter 3: Home

**Chapter Three: Home**

 _"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." – Marilyn Monroe_

"Charlie and Allie asleep?" I asked Scott as he came back downstairs.

"Yeah." He answered, "You sure you're okay on the couch?"

"The couch is fine." I answered, "Thank you again for letting us spend Christmas here."

"I didn't think it was right for you to spend Christmas alone." He replied, "What kind of parents leave their kids alone on Christmas?"

"The kind who died years ago and don't know we're alone." I replied honestly, I omitted the fact that we had an older sister, Heidi, had no clue we had been missing.

He looked at me initially in shock, which turned into look of pity, "Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"We've been doing okay on our own." I responded, "I work and we have an apartment. They died before I started babysitting for Charlie. My dad was a deliveryman, who got into an accident while out delivering packages. My mom died some years earlier than he did, after she had Allie." I explained, "I've been trying to take care of us ever since."

"You should have said something sooner." He told me, "I would have helped, so would have Laura."

"Thank you." I replied sincerely.

"Get some sleep, Sasha." He said gently, "We can talk about this tomorrow."

Scott went upstairs and fell asleep on the couch.

A few hours later, I was awoken by the sound of a thud as something landed upon the roof. I sat up, "You've gotta be kidding me." I got up from the couch as I heard rustling upstairs. I guess I wasn't the only one who heard that. A few moments later, Scott ran past me and out the door.

"Charlie, where are you going?" I asked him as he ran down the stairs and to the door.

"To see what's going on outside." He answered as Allie came down the stairs.

"I don't know if that's the best idea." I responded. They both gave me a pointed look. I sighed, knowing Charlie was going to go outside no matter what I said, "At least go out on your jeans and get your coat." He nodded and went upstairs. I looked over to Allie, "Go get dressed, something tells me we might be going home."

"What do you mean?" She asked confused, "Mr. Calvin said we could stay-"

"Not that one."

"Oh." Her face dawned a look of realization. "I'll go change." She said before running upstairs. I put on my coat, hat, and boots, and went outside to see if I was right.

I watched the current Santa fall from the edge of the roof to the ground to his death. _'I wonder which Santa you are.'_ I thought grimly as I stepped around him to go to Scott. It wasn't the Santa I knew when we came here. That guy got stuck in a lit chimney, I grimaced thinking about it. I never forgot the smell of it. I had just started eating meat again a century and a half ago.

"What happened?" I asked Scott.

"He was on the roof." Scott responded, I could tell by his eyes he was still slightly panicking, "I called up to him and he slid and fell."

"I think Santa's dead." I told him, looking at the body.

"He's not Santa, he's a guy dressed like him." Scott corrected, "And hopefully he's just knocked out."

"One way to tell." I said as crouched down next to the body and checked his pulse. I looked up at Scott, "He doesn't have a pulse."

"Shit."

I got up, "This could happen to anyone."

"It didn't."

"No, it didn't." I agreed, _'Not tonight.'_

"You got him!" Charlie exclaimed as he and Allie came outside.

"Charlie, Allie, stay where you are." Scott told them, Charlie ignored him and ran down the porch steps as Scott protested. Allie followed after him.

"It is Santa!" Charlie exclaimed when he got a better look at the body. He looked up at Scott, "You killed him."

"Did not." Scott argued, "And he's not Santa."

"Well, he was." Charlie responded. Scott kneeled down and looked to see if the Santa had any ID on him.

"If something should happen to me, put on my suit." Scott read aloud, "The reindeer will know what to do."

 _'_ _Well at least they're warning the poor guys now.'_ I thought as I heard the sleigh bells ring. Charlie and Scott ran to the street to get a better look at the roof. Allie and I watched the former Santa Claus disappear.

"How do you think he killed the last one?" Allie whispered to me.

"Allie, that's morbid." I chastised.

"You were thinking it too." She shrugged, "Might as well have one of us say it out loud.

"Dad, he disappeared!" Charlie exclaimed when he noticed the other Santa was gone, "Wow!"

"He's naked somewhere." Scott muttered. I suppressed a laugh. I knew it was childish and that this was the wrong time, but it was funny.

"Are you going to put on the suit like the card said?" Charlie asked him, which Scott immediately turned down the idea. "Come on, Dad, I wanna go too."

"No." Scott repeated.

"Stop it, Charlie." Scott scolded, "We're not going anywhere."

"You do what I wanna do." Charlie argued.

Scott retorted, frustrated, "Would you please be quiet for a moment, so I can figure this out?" Scott paced, trying to figure out how this happened, what he should do, and how it could be explained.

"It's the ladder." Charlie said in awe. Scott turned around to say something, but hit his head against the ladder, not expecting it to be there.

"Where the hell did this come from?" Scott asked rubbing his temple. Charlie ran over to the ladder and started to climb up its steps. He stopped when he saw the insignia on it, and read it aloud: _The Rose Suchak Ladder Company._

"Huh?" Scott asked confused.

"Out by the roof there's a rose such a cladder." Charlie explained, "Just like the poem." He looked over to me and Allie, "C'mon Allie, we've gotta check this out."

Allie followed after him.

"Charlie, Allie, come down from there." Scott called after him.

"Dad!" Charlie exclaimed, "You've gotta see this!"

"Don't touch anything." Scott called up to Charlie and Allie as he picked up the pants of suit, "I'm just gonna call the police. I'll carry the stuff up there and let them deal with this."

"I don't know how much they're going to do about it." I told Scott as I went over to him.

"Better them than us." He reasoned as he looked at the pants, "Woah, this guy was huge."

"He was Santa." I shrugged.

"We'd better go after them." He responded. We both climbed up the ladder. "Stay away from those things their reindeer, you don't know where they've been." He warned them following me up on to the roof. Scott followed Charlie over to the sleigh, he and Allie had already climbed in.

"Hi guys." I whispered to Comet and Blitzen, petting their heads, "I missed you." I told them before going over to the sleigh.

"These are Santa's reindeer, aren't they?" I heard Charlie ask Scott as I climbed in the back of the sleigh next to Allie.

"I hope not." Scott replied as he went over to Dasher, "These are a gift, probably from the cable company. We're getting the Disney Channel now, Merry Christmas." He reached his hand to help Charlie out of the sleigh, "Now hop out of there."

"I don't wanna go." Charlie protested.

Scott climbed into the sleigh, "Charlie, I'm not kidding. Let's go!"

That command set the reindeer into motion, Scott feel back into his seat as the sleigh flew off.

 **Sean' P.O.V.**

Santa had stopped communicating with headquarters at half past one like he did every year. I didn't like this Santa, he's like the one we had before Sasha and Allie left. The only time we get a break anymore is right after he leaves on Christmas Eve, otherwise we're working. I missed the girls, they always could make their work easier, well, Sasha could.

"Hey, Bernard?"

"What Sean?" Bernard looked up from what he was doing. Ever since he had been made head Elf, he was busier than ever.

"Do you miss them at all?"I asked him.

"Miss who?"He asked confused.

I rolled my eyes and said "Sasha and Allie."

"Of course I do." Bernard sighed.

"Do you think they'll come back?"

"I don't know, Sean." He looked down.

"I bet they've changed a lot." I commented. Three hundred years will do that do a person. The disappearance of Sasha made him harder, colder, more distant. It was he was missing something, missing a part of him. He wasn't fun. He was ambitious and more interested in climbing up the business ladder than, well practically everything else.

"I don't have time for this, Sean." Bernard left.

 _'_ _Wow I guess he really doesn't like to talk about them.'_

I looked down and headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. I wasn't going to get anywhere with him. I picked up a sugar cookie of the plate of the table.

"Hey Sean!" A high pitched voice came up behind me. It was Holly, one of the bakers.

"Oh, hey Holly." I greeted her, taking a bite of the cookie.

"Guess what!" She said excitedly.

"I give up." I said, knowing Holly, it could be anything.

"There's a new Santa and he has two girls and a little boy with him." She said with a smile.

"Does Bernard know?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Thanks Holly, I go tell him." I ran off to go tell him. After I told Bernard, he went to go greet the new Santa. I went back to the stables, so I could help get the eight sleigh reindeer back to where they were supposed to be.

 **Sasha's P.O.V.**

When we made it down into the stables of the North Pole, someone caught my eye. "Hey Sean, I see you haven't changed at all since I've been gone." I smiled, "I mean you're a little taller, but you look exactly the same."

His eyes grew wide. I hopped off the sleigh after it touched the ground.

"Sasha?" Sean stuttered in shock. "You look different."

"Time will do that to you." I smiled, "You might want to get back to work before the head elf sees you dallying."

He suppressed a laugh, and then led Cupid to his stable. I watched him leave confused as to why he would find that comment funny. When I turned to around I saw Scott talking to whoever the current Head Elf was.

"Who are you?" Scott asked him.

"I'm Bernard." He introduced himself, "Nice to meet you Santa."

My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe it. He never seemed like the type to be a Head Elf, not that I'm sure he wouldn't have been a good one. I'm sure he was a great one, but it wasn't what I thought he would have been. I knew he wouldn't be in the mail department forever, but Head Elf. I couldn't help gawking at him, between his position and how different he looked, I was stunned.

"I'm tired of small talk." I heard Scott say to Bernard.

"The other Santa disappeared, right?" Bernard questioned.

"Actually he fell off the roof, and then faded away." I corrected coming over to them.

Bernard shook his head and then walked away, not wanting to deal with it.

"Hey wait a minute." Scott called after him, "Hey, I know where this is going. It wasn't my fault. The other guy fell, it was an accident."

"Well, you did call up to him." I pointed out.

"He was on my roof." Scott defended, "It was an accident. I've got home owner's insurance and a good attorney. Not as good as my wife's, but let's not open up that."

We finally caught up to Bernard, Scott stopped him.

"How did you know the other guy was gone?"

"They're alerted, Scott." I answered.

"How would you know that?" Scott asked.

"I used to know a lot about this place." I replied vaguely, "Some of it's harder to forget than others."

"Would you like a drink?" Bernard asked us.

"No, I don't want a drink." Scott answered.

"I would, I'm thirsty." Charlie answered as he as Allie walked over to us, "And hungry too."

Scott sighed in frustration, "Charlie, I thought I told you to stay in the sleigh."

"Who's this?" Bernard asked.

"This is my son, Charlie." Scott answered.

"And you both?" Bernard asked Allie and I.

"I babysit Charlie." I answered, skirting around giving him our names. Now was not the time to tell him who we really were. "This is my sister. We were staying with Scott and Charlie for Christmas."

"I'm sorry, this is-" Scott tried to introduce the three of us to him, but couldn't remember his name.

"Bernard." Allie, Bernard, and I told him. Bernard looked at Allie and I confused in how we would know his name without being introduced to him.

"Bernard." Scott told Charlie.

"Hi Bernard." Charlie greeted him.

"Hi sport." Bernard shook his hand.

"Hey dad, he called me sport, just like you." Charlie smiled up at Scott.

"Wonderful." He replied.

"Hey, you know what, I've got something for you." Bernard told Charlie, "Now hold out your hand, alright?" He pulled a snow globe out of his satchel. "Now, be very careful. This is very old, just like me." He handed to snow globe to Charlie. "Check it out, Charlie?"

I remembered my first snow globe. I had gotten it right after my father went on one of his Christmas deliveries when I was six hundred. It wasn't as extravagant as Charlie's, the base was mahogany and inside the globe was a snow covered forest. When I shook the globe, the snow would fall and the trees would go from being normal snow covered trees to being decorated Christmas trees. I lived in the North Pole, I saw my dad every day until he died. The extravagant globes like the ones Charlie was given were for the children that had to be separated from their dads.

"Why don't you hold onto it for me for a while?" Bernard asked him, "It might come in handy."

Charlie thanked him and promised to take care of it, before showing it to his dad.

"Hey Barabbas." Scott came over to Bernard after quickly looking over the snow globe. Charlie showed the ball to Allie.

"Bernard." Bernard and I corrected him.

"Bernard, can we take a direct flight back to reality?" Scott asked him, "Or do we have to change planes in Denver?"

"If this place weirds you out, Scott, I think Denver may be a little trippy for you." I commented with a laugh as Bernard told one of the younger elves to take Charlie to the kitchens to get him something to eat. The elf nodded and Charlie and Allie went with him.

"Charlie!" Scott called after him.

"He'll be okay." Bernard told him, "C'mon we've got to get you out of those clothes."

"Can you-" Scott started to ask me.

"Sure." I answered before he finished, knowing that he was going to ask me to go with them. Bernard looked at me as he started to put the pieces together. I ran off after Charlie and Allie before he could finish. I took an alternate route to the kitchen, cutting through the Naughty and Nice area, so I wouldn't have to go on the train.


	4. Chapter 4: Finding a Way

**Chapter Four: Finding a Way**

 _The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is. – Winston Churchill_

After I finished eating, I filled a thermos of hot chocolate and then made my way to where my room used to be. When I got there, it had its own security code.

"You've gotta be shitting me." I groaned, "When did they do this?"

"Looking for something?" Someone questioned. I turned around to see Bernard.

"Possibly."

"This is area is-"

I cut him off, "It used to be open to everyone."

"How did you-" Bernard started.

"Because this used to be my home."

His eyes widened in realization, "Sasha?"

"Hi Bernard." I smiled nervously greeting him, "Can you let me in, so I can get to my room?"

"Of course." He replied after a few moments, and put the code into the pin pad, "The next time you want to get in, the code's 11-24."

 _'_ _The day we met…'_ I smiled softly at the thought, and then said, "It's nice to see you again, Bernard."

He looked down and opened the door, quickly changing the subject, "This is the only passcode that you have to use to get into this area, but updates have been made to the rooms." We walked down the hall to my room. "If you don't still have your key, I have a skeleton key and I can have one of the locksmiths make you another one." He added when we stopped at my door. I took off the necklace I had been wearing under my shirt; on its chain was the key to my room as well as a ring and ornate locket pendant. They were the only things that I had kept from here.

"I've had to get rid of many things in the past few centuries, but I couldn't part with these." I told him as I removed the key from the silver chain. The key was silver, the bottom of the key had intricate made with simple flowing lines. Kurt, one of the locksmith elves who was around my age, had designed it for me as a birthday present. I had recently lost my previous key. It had made Bernard almost fit to be tied when he saw it.

 _Flashback_

 _"_ _What is that?" Bernard questioned when he saw my birthday present from Kurt. I looked down at the key I had next to my locket._

 _"_ _Oh, it's from Kurt." I replied, "He gave it to me for my birthday. He knew I lost my last one, he was trying to be nice."_

 _"_ _That isn't a gift you give to be nice." He argued._

 _"_ _He's a locksmith, he made me a key!"_

 _"_ _A key is one thing," He retorted, "That's not just a key, it has gems and-"_

 _"_ _Bernard, it's just key." I sighed, not wanting to argue about Kurt, "He wanted to do something nice for me for my birthday. There's nothing going on between me and Kurt and you know that. And if you don't by now, I'm going to prove it to you." I took one of his hands in mine and led him to my room, so we could be by ourselves._

 _"_ _Sasha, I don't think this is a good idea." Bernard protested after I shut the door to my room behind us. I let go of his hand and locked the door. "Santa's not going be pleased if he finds me in here."_

 _"_ _This Santa isn't going to care." I told him, "If it were my dad, then he would, you're right, but it's not."_

 _"_ _What's going on, Sasha?"_

 _"_ _I wanted to try something and I'd rather not have anyone else see us." I answered. No one would think anything of him coming out of my room, we've been friends for too long._

 _"_ _I don't understand." He responded. I looked up watching the mistletoe magically appear above us. Magic was one of my favorite parts about being one of Santa's kids. I smiled, looking at it form. Bernard looked up at perplexed, "Was that always there?"_

 _"_ _I don't know." I answered, stepping closer to him. His face started to redden as he looked down at me. Before I could do anything, there was a knock at the door._

 _"_ _Sasha, are you in there?" Allie asked, on the opposite end of the door, "I accidentally let your cat out and now I can't find her."  
I stepped away from Bernard sighing, "I'll be right there Allie."_

"You couldn't part with a key?" Bernard raised an eyebrow.

"It has a good memory attached to it." I smiled softly as I unlocked the door.

"I didn't know you were that fond of Kurt."

"Who said the memory was about Kurt?" I countered as I opened the door.

"He was the one who gave it to you." He replied as we went inside.

"And if I remember correctly, he wasn't the one I was trying to kiss that night after he gave it to me." I pointed out. He looked down, knowing I was right. "Or at least I would have if we weren't interrupted." I changed the subject to try to make things less awkward. That was probably not the right thing to talk about with someone after not seeing them for almost 400 years. "So, you're Head Elf."

"Sasha-" He started, but I spoke up before he could say anything else.

"How is that?"

"It's better than being in the mail room." He replied hurriedly, before changing the subject, "There are some things we're going to have discuss if you're going to be staying here."

Before he could continue, I told him, "I'm going back with Scott and Charlie in the morning."

Bernard looked at me disbelievingly, "You can't be serious, Sasha."

"He's going to need help with his Santa transformation."

"Could you at least stay here until we send him the lists?"

"Why?"

"You've been gone 394 years and now you show up with a new Santa and his son, who think you and your sister are human."

"We're half human and have been living like humans for the past 394 years." I shrugged, "E.L.F.S. never came looking for us."

"After we got the new Santa ready, E.L.F.S could track you because you stopped using your magic."

"Do you know what happens when you use magic in front of a human?" I questioned, "Or when one notices that you don't exactly age? Do you have any idea what happens to people who have magic in magicless world? About what's going to happen to Scott?"

I didn't give Bernard the chance to answer, I could tell he didn't by the look on his face. I knew the answers to all of my questions except for the last: What was going to happen to Scott?

"If I can make things easier for him by being there, I'd like to stay." I told him, sitting down on my bed. "I know what it's like to lose everything because you have the gift of magic."

"You could be more useful to him here." Bernard reasoned, sitting down next to me, "You know this Santa well, you could be helpful with transitioning him into living here and us used to him."

"Is there any way I could go back and forth?"

"I think it might be best if you and Allie stayed here."

"Maybe for you, but I don't think it would be for us." I replied, "If you can find a way for me to be able to go back and forth, I will stay."

 **Bernard's POV**

After I left Sasha, I went to see Quinton to see if there was anything I could do about her going back and forth between the Pole and the Illinois suburb that this Santa and his son Charlie were from. It wasn't what I was hoping for, I thought she would want to stay when she arrived here. The Sasha I remembered would have, but it was clear she had no intention of staying here at the moment. After I explained the situation to Quinton, he told me, "For her to go back and forth wouldn't depend on our machinery, but her magic. The longer it's been since she's used her magic, the less reliable it will be. It'll make everything from using our devices to transporting herself here difficult. I don't recommend that she stays here if she feels strongly about going back and doesn't have the magic to get back and forth herself or communicate with us."

"What do you suggest?" I asked.

"I suggest she goes back with the new Santa, help him transition if he needs it, and wrap up any loose ends she has and have her come back by Thanksgiving." He advised, "If you really want her involved here, then I would either have someone go back and forth for you, go back and forth yourself, or send her a copy of everything you send the new Santa."

"Thanks, Quinton, I'll let her know."

"Why do you want her to stay here?"

"Having Sasha go back to her previous position would be beneficial to our work here."

"You're Head Elf, I can't tell you what to do." He replied, "I can only advise that if you do want her involved, I would suggest finding a way for her to do it from there until she's ready to come back."

"Thanks, Quinton" I nodded. It wasn't the answer I wanted, but it was one that I could work with until Thanksgiving. It wasn't until after Halloween that I really got busy. I could go back and forth as I needed, it could probably get away it until the first of November at the latest.

When I went back to talk to Sasha, she was already asleep on the bed. I situated her in the bed, so that she was under the covers, and then covered her with another blanket. I could tell her later.


	5. Chapter 5: Almost Like a Dream

**Chapter Five: Almost Like a Dream**

 _'_ _I think we dream so we don't have to be apart for so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time.' – A.A. Milne._

 **Sasha's POV**

When I woke up, I was back on the couch as if nothing had happened. I sat up rubbing my temples, thinking about everything that happened last night, and sighed. "That had to be a dream." I told myself. I knew Santa was real, but everything lining up the way that it did was unexplainable. I have no magic, it was tapped out years ago; and it's not like it would be weird to see Bernard in a dream, I saw him all of the time. After almost four hundred years, dreams of him still persisted.

After a few moments I could hear Charlie calling for his dad, but Scott was still sleeping. I listened as he went go get Allie, and then watched them both come down the stairs. Allie sat down on the couch next to me as Charlie went to go look at his presents.

"Why aren't you guys looking for presents?" Charlie asked us as he pulled out his from under the tree.

"We don't usually get presents." Allie replied nonchalantly.

"But you guys each have a present." Charlie pulled out two presents from under the tree, "I think they're from Santa."

Allie and I looked to each other confused and then looked back at Charlie; we hadn't been expecting presents. We didn't usually receive Christmas presents other than from each other, if we even decided to exchange that year.

 **Allie's POV**

Charlie handed us each our presents and then went to go get his dad. Sasha's had simple brown parcel wrapping tied with red twine and had a bow made of leaves of Blue Spruce and a silver bell. There was no card, only an inscription in black ink on the parcel: _To Sasha_. It looked like the wrapping of gifts Bernard used to give her when we lived in the Pole. I watched her stare at the package unable to decipher the expression on her face. There was this happy sadness about it. I didn't understand, it was just paper. Pretty smelling paper because of the spruce, but not one to get that reaction out of her. Why would anyone care about paper?

I looked at my gift, it was wrapped in gold paper with a red ribbon tied around it. It had a small card and a candy cane attached to the corner. I opened the card, **_'Alessandra, if you need me, let me know. – B'_** _._ I opened the gift, and inside was a little antique music box that was the size of the palm of my hand. _'How do I let him know with a music box?'_ I thought confused as I inspected the little box, _'What am I supposed to do with this?'_

I looked back at Sasha, who was still staring down at the gif with the same melancholy expression. Why hadn't she opened it yet?

"Aren't you going to open it?" I asked her.

Snapping out of her daze, she managed to bumble out a response, "Yeah…"

What was inside the package was more confusing that her expression to the paper.

"They're rocks." I narrowed my eyes in confusion and disbelief at the gift.

"On the surface." She nodded in agreement, and then pointed to one of them, "This is jade; it's a stone of fidelity and generosity." She pointed to another one, "That's a moonstone; it's said to be a reflection of its owner." She pointed to another stone in the box, "That's Lapis Lazuli; it's a stone of wisdom, it was originally used by priests and royalty." She pointed to a smaller pink stone, "That's mangano calcite; it's a stone of forgiveness." She pointed to a green and black stone that was slightly bigger than the pink one, "That's an emerald; it's a stone of hope and faith." Lastly, she pointed to a clear pink stone, "That's a rose quartz; it's supposed to be for unconditional love." She closed the lid on the box. "I'm gonna go get ready." She grabbed her clothes out of her bag and then went to the bathroom. After she left, I noticed a parchment note on the ground. I picked it up and opened it out of curiosity.

 ** _Natasha,_**

 ** _Every living being has a way of expressing themselves to those they care for. Some creatures flaunt their feathers, others sing. I am not a prideful elf, nor do I sing, however finding the words and the ways to tell you has always been difficult._**

 ** _Six centuries ago, I came across an interesting attribute of the Penguin. When the males fall in love, they search beaches to find the perfect pebble to give to the female that has stolen their heart. After I read this, I took a page from their book and started to search for your perfect stone._** **_Each stone has its own meaning, its own reason for its inclusion. I could not find just one perfect stone, so far I have found six. One for each century that I have loved you._**

I knew I shouldn't have been reading this, but once I started to read, I couldn't stop. I wanted to see what else he had to say. It was Bernard, the grumpiest elf in the North Pole; I knew they had been friends, but this was different.

 **** ** _I found the first stone, the Lapis Lazuli, in 1392. It reminded me of your eyes. The ones I had constantly found myself lost in the more time I had spent with you. The ones I often dreamt of after you were gone. The next stone was the Emerald, which I found in 1496. It reminded me of the green dress you would wear every Christmas. The dress I had found myself looking forward to seeing at the Christmas party every year. The Jade was found in 1599; the color had made me think of how we had met in the mailroom. I've always been for that gust of wind that sent your hat into my sorter. In 1694, I came across the pink calcite._**

I closed the letter, feeling even guiltier for reading as much as I did. These were more personal reasons than I thought they would be. I slipped the letter into the box with the stones. Sasha was the only one of us who should know what the whole letter said. When she came back into the room, I asked her more about the stones while we were waiting for Charlie and Mr. Calvin to come down.

The lapis was one of the oldest spiritual stones known to mythical beings and mankind, according to Sasha. It was a stone of communication that could bring truthfulness, openness, and mental clarity, helping someone find the right words when they don't know what to say. It was known to enhance love and fidelity in marriage. The emerald was supposed to bring love, dedication and responsibility in a relationship. The stone was sacred to the goddess, Venus, and was thought to be a symbol of hope and preserve love. Jade was supposed to protect against misfortune. In Chinese legends, the jade stone, when carved into a butterfly was used to attract love. The mangano calcite was a gentler stone than the others. It was supposed to offer hope and heal emotional pain; it enabled people to accept love and have self-love. It was useful in helping to take away issues from the past, and bringing in forgiveness. This stone helps one to heal from grief, fear and tension as it teaches unconditional love to its user. The rose quartz was supposed to put someone in a state of mind that allowed them to receive love. If you are suffering from lost or unrequited love it will help to comfort you; if you have been betrayed in love it will help bring back faith and trust, as well as a sense of self-worth and self-esteem; if you have simply never been in love, it will open up all the possibilities of falling in love. The moonstone had been her favorite of all of the ones in the box. It was a stone that was thought to arouse tender passion. Lovers who possess a moonstone are said to be able to foretell their future life together. According to one legend, two people wearing moonstone will fall passionately in love when the moon is high. It was a stone for wishing and hoping as well as a stone for embracing the cycles of change.

 **Sasha's POV**

Before I could say anything else about the stones, Charlie ran back into the room. He was now dressed and ready for Laura to pick him up. He started to open his presents under the tree. Scott came in and slumped down next to me on the couch and let out a sigh.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Charlie asked him. He mumbled a reply that sounded like it was along the lines of 'Just fine.' "Are you having a heart attack?" Charlie asked, setting a present down next to Scott, "I know CPR."

Scott laughed lightly, "I just-" He started and then looked down at his pajamas, "S.C?"

"Yeah, Santa Claus." Charlie shrugged, and then added in realization, "Hey, that's the same initials as your name, Dad, Scott Calvin."

"What?" Scott asked him, but the doorbell rang before Charlie could answer. Charlie ran to go greet Laura excitedly. He let her inside and then ran back to come get his presents. Scott got up a few moments later to go and meet her at the door.

"Allie, do you wanna come home with me?" He asked her, "I know Sasha said she had to work, but maybe you could spend Christmas with me."

Allie looked at me to see if I minded, which I didn't. "Can I?"

"It's fine with me, I'm working, but you guys will have to ask Laura." I told her. It was better for her spend Christmas with Charlie than by herself.

"I'll go ask." He offered enthusiastically.

"Where'd you get them?" I heard Laura ask Scott about the pajamas.

"I don't know." Scott answered.

"Judy gave them to you, remember?" Charlie reminded him, picking up one of his presents, and then asked his Laura, "Can Allie come home with us?"

"I don't mind, but I'm sure Sasha would want her to be with her on Christmas." She answered.

"I'm working." I replied, "I couldn't get out of my shift."

Laura gave me a look of pity and agreed to let Allie spend the day with Charlie. Allie went to go change while Charlie finished gather his stuff.

"Charlie, who's Judy?" Scott asked after a few moments.

"Up at the North Pole." Charlie responded.

"One of Santa's little helpers." Laura commented pointedly at Scott. Charlie explained to her everything that had happened last night. Between the pajamas, presents, and Charlie's explanation of the events last night, it was harder to believe that it was all a dream. "Gee, thanks for keeping his feet on the ground." She told Scott sarcastically.

As soon as Charlie finished getting his stuff together, Allie came back in the living room. Laura sent them to go wait in the car, so that she could talk to Scott.

"Bye Dad." Charlie said as he passed by him, Scott kissed his head. "Thanks for a great time at the North Pole."

"Bye, Mr. Calvin." Allie said as she followed Charlie, "Thank you."

I walked them out, it was about time for me to head out anyway. Neil was waiting by the car when we came out.

"Hi Neil." I greeted him, "How was your Christmas Eve?"

"It was good, Sasha." He nodded, opening the car door for Charlie, who handed him his stuff to put in the trunk. "How was yours?"

"Eventful." I replied vaguely with a smile.

"Allie coming with us for Christmas?"

"Yeah, Charlie asked if she could-"

"And you have to work?"

I nodded, "I do."

"I'll have her back to your apartment by eight."

"Okay." I agreed. I wasn't going to be back until at least ten at the earliest. Allie had a key though and she'd be able to get in the building. Although, if Mrs. Collins caught her coming home by herself again, she'd call a social worker. That was the last problem we needed. This decade had been going by pretty smoothly until she threatened us with that. I kind of liked having a place to live, so I wasn't going to fight our landlord on her warning.

"Charlie!" Scott called after him as he ran out the door. He got to the car just as Charlie and Allie climbed in. Neil complimented him on his pajamas as he took the scooter from him. Scott leaned over the car door to talk to Charlie, "About what you said in the house, who showed you the workshop?"

"The elf." Charlie answered.

"How'd I get the pajamas?"

"I told you Judy." Charlie reminded him.

"Oh, wait, wait, Judy was the name of the waitress at the restaurant." Scott remarked.

"Some waitress gave you pajamas?" Laura retorted.

"I don't remember the waitress giving you anything other than the check." I commented.

"What's this all about?" Neil asked confused. Charlie told the whole story to Neil as he did Laura, explaining that Scott was the new Santa and that basically Scott accidentally killed the last one. "Charlie, we'll talk about this at home." Neil responded as Scott shut the car door.

"It was just a dream." Scott told Charlie as they started to pull away from the house, "Stuff like that doesn't happen. It was a dream! I don't even wear pajamas! Normally I sleep naked, buck naked!"

One of Scott's neighbors passed us as we headed up the porch, I suppressed an awkward laugh at the situation. "That might have been a bit too much information."

"Probably." Scott agreed, "You want some coffee before you head to work?"

"That'd be great, thanks."

Scott opened the door and we went inside.

"I can't believe they're having you work Christmas."

I shrugged, I had been used to working holidays. "That's the beauty of working retail; I'm just glad the diner isn't open too." I answered as he shut the door behind us.

"Don't you have any relatives or anyone to take care of you?"

I shook my head, "No, only our sister, Heidi, but it's a little difficult to get a hold of her. She travels a lot for work and we don't usually know where she is."

That wasn't a full lie. We didn't know where Heidi was, I haven't seen her in almost seven hundred years. She left after she had gotten into an argument with our mom before she died and never came back. Jack (the reason for the argument) had managed to convince her to meet with each new Santa, but she never stayed long enough to see me or Allie. We would find out she had visited shortly after she would leave.

"And she doesn't know you both are alone?"

"No." I replied honestly as we made our way into the kitchen.

"Have you ever thought of reaching out to her?" Scott asked, pulling out two cups from the cabinet and poured us each a cup. His coffee had a very small amount of sugar and a table spoon of cinnamon vanilla creamer, while mine had two tablespoons of sugar and a lot of the cinnamon vanilla creamer. He handed me my cup.

I took a sip of the coffee and then answered, "If I knew where she was, I would." I then changed the subject to the North Pole, "So what's this about the North Pole?"

"I had this weird dream about taking a trip to the North Pole, I replaced Santa Claus and spend the night deliver presents and being lectured for part the night by an elf when I arrived at the Pole."

"An elf?"

"Yeah, his name was Barnabas, or Bartholomew-"

"Bernard?" I asked him.

"Yes, and you were in the dream and you and him would correct me when I mispronounced his name."

"Really?"

"How did you know his name was Bernard?"

"Just a lucky guess." I replied, taking another sip of coffee, "I used to know someone with the same name."


	6. Chapter 6: A Cover Story

**Chapter Six: A Cover Story for a New Frequent Visitor**

 _'_ _Legend has it, there is always a reason why two souls meet. Maybe they found each other for reasons that weren't so different after all. They were two souls searching and found a home lost in each other. When souls find comfort in one another, separation is not possible. The reasons they are brought together are no accident… Maybe she needed someone to show her how to live and he needed someone to show him how to love.' – N.R. Hart_

 **Allie's POV**

That night Neil dropped me off at the apartment building, he and Laura waited until after I was gone to address the North Pole topic with Charlie. I turned him down when he offered to go up with me foolishly. I hadn't seen Mrs. Collins coming down the stairs. I pulled the music box out of my pocket and turned the dial to play it. _'I hope this works.'_ I thought as I heard Moon River play. When the song ended, there was nothing. No Bernard, no magic, no nothing. I sighed, and turned the dial again. And again, nothing happened. I looked down at the box and then at the top of the stairs where Mrs. Collins was, luckily for me she hadn't looked up from her paperwork yet. I turned the dial one more time and closed my eyes, hoping that something would happen this time.

"Alessandra, I meant for the music box to be used in emergencies." I could heard Bernard say. I opened my eyes to see him standing before me. I don't think I've ever been as happy to see him as I was at this moment. I hugged him, ecstatic that the box actually worked. "What are you doing?"

"Please just go along with whatever say until we get upstairs." I whispered to him.

"What?" He asked confused as I let go of him.

"Miss Kringle, where is your sister?" Mrs. Collins asked when she finally noticed I was in the lobby.

"She had to work, so I've been spending the day with my brother-in-law, Bernard." I half-lied. Sasha did half to work, "Mrs. Collins, this is Bernard Mikkelsen. Bernard, this is Mrs. Collins, our landlady."

"Sasha never mentioned anything about getting married." Mrs. Collins said suspiciously.

"They eloped a few weeks ago." I replied simply.

"I've never seen her wear a ring." She commented.

"Her ring is on the chain of her necklace." Bernard told her, before giving me a look that asked what was going on.

"One of her jobs won't allow her to wear her ring, so she keeps it on her necklace." I added.

"When your sister gets back, let her know I'd like to speak with her if she intends on adding person to the rent."

"Bernard actually works with Mr. Calvin and travels a lot for work, so it's hard to say when he'll actually be here for more than a few days at a time." I told her, and then looked up at Bernard, "We'd better head up and get that surprise we were talking about for Sasha ready." I told him, coming up with an excuse for us to go upstairs. I took his hand and led him passed Mrs. Collins and up the stairs to our apartment.

"What was that about?" Bernard asked after we got inside of our apartment.

"Mrs. Collins only sees an 18 or 19 year old, who's always working, with an 8 year old sister, who's constantly on her own." I started to explain, "So, after a few months she noticed I was going a lot of places by myself, which is not acceptable here as it is in the North Pole."

"So you called me, so you could get passed her."

"I called you so I could have someone with me until Sasha gets home."

"She works Christmas day?"

"She works every day and most nights." I answered, "The time off she manages to get, she spends sleeping."

I went over to the kitchen, so I could make something for Sasha that she could eat when she got home. I pulled my cookbook from the shelf and flipped through it to find something quick and easy I could make and then stick in fridge for her to reheat. I didn't want to make anything fancy, just something quick and possibly big enough for her to split and take with her for lunch tomorrow. Soups were easy enough if we had ingredients to make them. I looked in the fridge to see what we had, which wasn't too bad. It wasn't stocked, but it wasn't bare either. I filled through the cookbook again. We had ingredients for Italian wedding, albondigas, stuffed pepper, loaded potato, and French onion. _'Well, I know what I'm making for the week.'_ I thought as I dog-eared the recipes. I'd probably make two tonight and finish the others tomorrow. I could also experiment with the rosemary and olive oil bread recipe I had been working on. For some reason, I hadn't gotten it quite right yet. I always felt there something missing.

"You wanna help?" I asked Bernard, who was looking around the apartment.

"Sure." He agreed, "Is there more to this place?"

"Nope, what you see is what you've get." I replied as I got the ingredients out for the loaded potato and the French onion soups, so I could prepare them. "It's actually one of the better places we've lived."

A guilty apologetic expression came across his face. Judging by the expression, he had probably been beating himself up for the past few centuries for not getting us out of the sleigh when he and Sean had the chance.

Before he could say anything, I spoke up again, "Sasha will be happy to be home next Christmas, she's really missed the Pole." I handed him the potatoes for the loaded potato soup and a peeler.

"The elves have missed her." He responded, sitting down at the island and starting to peel the potatoes. His mom had been a kitchen elf, he knew his way around a kitchen.

"Just the elves?" I asked. He remained silent. "I read the letter, Bernard. I know why you let us go and why you feel so guilty now. I know you wanted her to stay in the Pole with you last night and that she refused because she wanted to come back to help Scott if he needed it and take care of things here. I also know she's staying here longer for me because I like it here, but if it were just her, she'd comeback with you in a heartbeat."

"You read her letter?" He replied after a few moments. I thought he'd be angry, but he had sounded more self-conscious.

"Half of it." I told him, "It was beautiful, Bernard."

He remained silent and continued to peel and dice the potatoes for the soup. This time I left him be, I didn't bring up anything else or ask him anymore questions.

 **Sasha's POV  
** When I got home, it was quarter to midnight. We had a last minute customer who didn't know what they wanted until twenty minutes after the store was supposed to close, and then we had to clean up. Since we had a Christmas sale, the store was left a mess and it took longer to clean. You would think people would have better things to do on Christmas than go shopping. I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, but I mean couldn't there just be one day where nothing is open except for like hospitals, police states, etc.? I wouldn't care if it was Arbor Day, Boxing Day, or even Flag Day.

I unlocked the door to the apartment and went inside. From the looks of it, Allie had already gone to bed. She had left on the kitchen light, so I could see where I was going in the apartment. I went to my room and changed out of my work clothes to a pair of grey pajama pants and olive green long sleeve shirt. After I finished changing, I went out to the kitchen to find Bernard sitting at my island, reading through Allie's cookbook of recipes that she has collected over the years.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" I commented, making myself known. He looked up from the book surprised. "I didn't mean to surprise you. I mean, I'm a little surprised to find you in my kitchen, but…" I trailed off, not knowing where I was going with that. "Why are you here?" I asked, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, I am, just confused."

"Alessandra called me." He answered, "I gave her a music box for Christmas that will page me whenever she needs me. She called me, so I could stay with her while you were at work."

"I'm guessing you met Mrs. Collins." I replied sheepishly.

"I did." He nodded, "If I'm not mistaken, she's the reason why Alessandra called. She told your landlady that we were married and that I work for Scott Calvin."

"Well, he is the new Santa, so that wasn't a total lie." I replied leaning against the island, "How'd we get married?"

"Apparently, we eloped." Bernard answered.

"Good for us." I smiled good-humoredly, trying not to laugh since his expression was completely serious. He looked at me incredulously. "What?"

"This isn't a joking matter, Sasha." He said sternly.

"Who's joking?" I asked him, "It's a good reason for you to be hear and for me and Allie to move from here in November." I pushed away from the counter and went to the cabinet and pulled down two mugs. "I could do much worse than marrying you, not that I mean that as a jab at you or in a bad way at all. I'd be lucky to marry you, you're amazing." I made us each a cup of tea and placed a mug in front of him. He took a sip of it and then looked at me oddly.

"What's in this?"

"It's a blend of my own." I told him, "Over the years, I took interest of making tea blends. That specific blend is mainly hibiscus, but there's also huckleberry, a hint of raspberry, and just a taste of pear." I took a sip of my own.

"It's good." He complimented, "What's hibiscus?

"It's still missing something." I replied, and then went to the fridge to find something to eat, "It's a flower." I pulled out a container out of the fridge and opened the lid to see what it was, "Oo potato…" I put the container on the island and then grabbed two bowls. "So, how long can you stay?" I asked him as I filled the bowls.

"Well, the Workshop is shut down until the week after New Year's…"

"But you can't stay away from the Pole that long." I pointed out.

He shook his head in agreement, "I can't."

I put his bowl in the microwave and then turned back to him, "But you could stay here for a couple of days, maybe?"

"If you'll have me, I can stay until the 29th."

"I'd love for you to stay." I admitted, "I won't be around much though."

"I'll see you when you are here," He replied, "And I can help Alessandra around here while you're gone."

When the microwave beeped, I took out the bowl and placed it in front of him with a spoon, and then placed mine in the microwave and turned it on.

"What would you have done if I didn't want any?" Bernard asked, looking down at the bowl.

"When was the last time you ate a real meal, Bernard?" I asked him.

"What constitutes as a 'real meal' to you?" He questioned. I knew that reply, it was the reply he had given when I used to question him about his eating habits around Christmastime centuries ago. He didn't like to sit down and eat until the busy season for his department was over. Now that he was Head Elf, his busy season was longer. When he was still in mail, he would sneak a cookie or cup of cocoa here and there while trying to do some overtime. He did enough to keep him sustained, so that he could work more.

"Eat." I told him, "The busy season is over, the presents have been delivered, and the workshop, as you said, won't reopen until after New Year's. Unless things have changed, toy production won't start until March. Letters don't start coming until September and that's the earliest they come. Most don't start until the week after Thanksgiving." I sighed and got to the point, "What I'm saying is you deserve a break, or at least enough of one to eat."

He silently nodded and started to eat. I didn't need a response, I was just happy that he was eating something. I took my bowl out of the microwave and pulled the chair over, so I could sit across from him.

"So, how long have you been Head Elf?" I asked him curiously after a few moments of silence.

"Little over a century." He answered.

"That's fantastic, Bernard." I smiled, "Definitely a step up from the mailroom, well more than a step, but you know what I mean. Not that the mailroom was bad, it's a really nice job, especially an entry level position."

"Yours was better."

My first job was in the Naughty and Nice department. I monitored the Naughty List and kept track of the offenses that the children committed and then decided which children should be given another chance for Christmas gifts. If a child misbehaved for a reason, they were immediately put on my list to give to Santa. I had been the Second Chance Elf of the Naughty and Nice Department; a position to my dismay, which was made solely for me because I want to work like everyone else in the workshop. It was a way for my father to keep an eye on me and give me what I wanted at the same time. It was also a way to keep me away from seeing Bernard as much as I did.

"I would have rather been in Mail." I told him.

"You would have been bored."

"But at least I would have been with you."

"We would have never gotten anything done." He pointed out.

"There was one point in time where you would have been okay with that." I remarked, "What happened?"

"I got older." He replied vaguely, "I was given more responsibility."

There was only one route from Letter Sorting to Head Elf, so I hadn't bothered to ask how he got to be in his position. He would have had to go from Letter Sorting to Department Mail Delivery, and then from that he would have had to be promoted to Mail Department Head. From there, he would have had have been made the Messenger Elf, which is Santa's personal messenger when he needs to send or pass letters, messages, or alerts to the other Legendary Figures. From Messenger Elf, he easily would have transitioned into Keeper of the Christmas Handbook, and then when the Head Elf retired, Head Elf. Going from Mail to Head Elf was one of the longest, and most impressive feats, routes to get to Head Elf. The easiest routes were from the Experimentation and Development department and the Naughty and Nice department. To get from sorting mail to Head Elf in around two centuries was unheard of. Elijah must have seen something in Bernard that he had admired, which was damn near impossible. I had never seen that guy even crack a smile, it was hard to imagine him married or even courting. Being with Bernard now, I could see some of Elijah's more **_admirable_** traits were passed on to him. I had hardly seen a smile from him.

"You're amazing, you know." I told him earnestly, "I've never met anyone who's been able to make Head Elf that fast, and you had farther to go since you were in the mail department."

Bernard shrugged, "I had something to prove."

"To who?"

"It's not important." He replied nonchalantly.

"Bernard-"

"Sasha, it's not important how I got to be Head Elf." He interjected, before I could ask again, "I'm happy where I am."


	7. Chapter 7: Minute After Midnight

**AN: Hello everyone, I apologize for the formatting of the chapter, the site wouldn't let me put the version I had in Word. I'm working on the next chapter now and am hoping to have it out to you soon.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Chapter Seven: Minute after Midnight**

 _"I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and always will be...yours." ― Jane Austen_

As Bernard promised, he stayed with us until the 29th of December. He spent his days with Allie and his nights and early mornings with me. The more time I spent with him the harder I knew it was to let him go. I spent the entire day working, hoping that I would finish before he had to leave. Unfortunately, he had to go before I really could get much time with him.

"Hey Tanya." I greeted as she came over to my department, "What's up?"

Tanya and I had been working together for years, she had been one of the only friends I had that was remotely around the age I was pretending to be. I would cover for her whenever she had a date. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had one tonight, it was New Year's Eve.

"Thought I'd clean up your section for you, so you could leave early." Tanya responded, "There's a cute guy outside, said he was your husband."

"Bernard?" I questioned surprised. He wasn't supposed to be back until mid to late January at the earliest. I mean if he had come to visit earlier than he thought, I would be stoked since I didn't really get to see him while he was here. That wouldn't make his visit any less surprising though.

"When did you get married?" She asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We eloped a couple of weeks ago." I answered, "It was kind of sudden."

"Uh yeah!" Tanya retorted, "I'd say it's a bit sudden! What are you, pregnant?"

My face reddened at the thought. I had never even kissed Bernard, let alone slept with him. Not that I would be opposed to the idea of either.

"No, I'm not pregnant." I rebuffed, "We really haven't had much time to be together."

"Well, here's your chance." She smiled, before looking me up and down, "But not in that."

"What do you mean not in this?" I asked, looking down at my uniform.

Tanya pulled a dress off the rack, her smile only growing. It was a burgundy scoop neck sweater dress that I had my on since it came to the store. She also grabbed a pair of cream sweater tights and brown knee high boots with brass buckles on the sides and flannel on the inside of the shoes.

"What are you doing?"

"Buying these for you." She responded, "You think I'm going to let you go out there looking like that?"

"I did, yeah."

"Consider them a belated wedding gift." She told me as she rung them up and paid for them. She then took off all the tags and gave them to me, "Now, go get changed so I can do your make-up."

"Make-up? Why?" I asked as she started to nudge me towards the fitting rooms, "It's just Bernard."

"That's not a good way to start off a marriage." Tanya replied plainly.

"We've known each other forever." I told her, "He's seen me in much worse than a uniform."

"Well, now he'll see you looking your best and'll fall all over you."

Tanya pushed me into the fitting room and closed the door behind me.

"Don't take too long," She added, "I'd like to close up before midnight."

Shaking my head, I decided to just change. The quicker I could get through whatever Tanya wanted, the faster I could see Bernard. After I changed into the outfit, I looked into the mirror. It reminded me a little of the way I used to dress when I lived in the Pole. It had been more modern than the styles I used to wear, but it still retained the feeling. I let my hair out of the French braid that it had been kept in all day and ran my fingers through my hair to separate it out, which turned my straight, fine hair into a volumized mass of waves and curls.

"Hey Tanya, there's a white knitted hat and a gray peacoat-" I started to ask as I walked out of the dressing room, but she interrupted before I could.

"Ringing them up now." She told me, "Already thought of that, you can pay for them when you're ready."

"I can pay for them now, I'm all set." I responded, digging my wallet out of my bag. I paid for the peacoat and hat and then put my wallet back into my bag along with the gray beanie I had worn here. "What am I going to do with my other jacket?"

"You're going to let me borrow it because I forgot mine." Tanya answered putting it on, "Now let me do your makeup so you can go already, the poor guy's probably freezing."

"I doubt it." I responded, "It's much colder where he grew up."

"Where's he from?"

"Canada." I responded quickly. Tanya nodded in acceptance of the lie and then went to go get what she needed. "Nothing too ridiculous." I called after her.

"You'll take what I bring you!" She called back. Tanya had never been one to argue with, everything was always her way. There never was and never will be a highway option. I never minded it though, her choices were usually fantastic.

When Tanya came back, she had a small basket full of testers in her hands. Did I really need all of that? I didn't think I looked too bad when I saw my reflection.

"Do I really need all that?" I asked her with a tilt of my head.

"No, most of it is trying to figure out your color palette." She responded, "I have one I want to go with, but it's always good to have multiple options."

"How about we just go with the one so Bernard doesn't have to keep waiting?" I suggested. While Bernard didn't mind the cold, he did mind waiting. He had never been the most patient elf in the world. He tried, but it had always been very difficult for him. I highly doubt he could have changed a personality trait like that, that he's had for over a millennia, over the course of a couple of centuries. After a few moments, Tanya agreed and shuffled through the basket to find the exact testers she wanted. As she slowly applied the cosmetics, I couldn't help but remember why I had taken a break from it in the first place. Every few decades I didn't bother buying them. I used them all throughout the Victorian Era and Edwardian Era, the twenties, during and right after World War II, and this past decade. The nineties didn't seem like an important decade to fiddle with makeup so far.

When Tanya finished, I quickly thanked her as I hopped out of the chair I had been sitting in. Hastily, I put on the peacoat and hat, and then I headed out the door. Bernard had been standing right outside the door, looking much more human than when I had last seen him. Instead of his corduroy pants and an ornate Christmas sweater, he was in jeans, a button down lavender and black striped shirt, and black blazer. It was a look that would take a little getting used to, but it wasn't unwelcomed.

"You look handsome." I complimented. He looked back at me with a small smile forming on his face, "Sorry, I took so long."

I wasn't going to ask him why he was here, it didn't matter. He was here and he came to see me. There was no reason to ask why. If I were to ask how, the answer would most likely have something to do with Quentin, new tech, and magic.

"You're worth the wait." He shrugged, "Always have been."

"Any plans for the night?" I asked, slipping my hand into his.

"I was actually about to ask you that." Bernard responded, "Do you want to have dinner?"

"There isn't anything open close by." I hesitantly pointed out.

"I've already thought of that." He took my bag out my hands with his free hand and slung it over his shoulder, "Alessandra's spending New Years with Charlie, so it'll just be us and I was thinking of making you dinner."

This suggestion was rare and always welcomed. Bernard's mother was a kitchen elf, who had spent many years developing and perfecting recipes used in the Pole. By the time Bernard was 600 years old, she had been made head of the department and had started teaching Bernard all of her recipes. His brother, David, had never been interested in learning how to cook, taking more of an interest in their father's profession and going into E.L.F.S. training, so their mother focused all of her attention on Bernard. It broke her heart when he had been placed into a different department. There hadn't been an opening in the kitchens when it came time for Bernard to start working. In the centuries I knew him, he had only cooked for me a handful of times. Every single time, it had been for New Year's. Every New Year's Eve that we managed to find ourselves together, we would sneak into the kitchens and he would cook the most amazing meals I had ever tasted. Right before I had left the Pole, it had started to become our yearly tradition.

"You have no idea how much I'd love that."

 **Allie's POV**

"How did you know your way around the workshop?" Charlie asked me curiously. Neither of us had been able to sleep, so instead we stayed up and talked. We had nowhere to go tomorrow and no one was up to catch us.

I debated for a moment whether I was going to be completely honest with him. There was so much I wanted to tell him and a lot that I just couldn't. So, I kept it as simple as possible.

"My dad was a Santa Claus." I stated, his eyes widened and his jaw started to slowly drop. "Since my mom was an elf, we got to live in the pole. It was our home, we ended up here by accident years ago."

"Will I get to live at the North Pole?" Charlie asked.

"That's up to your parents, but maybe they'll let you stay for a while." I answered, "You should be able to see your dad. I didn't know too many Claus kids before I came here, so I can't really say what happens on that end. Sasha knew plenty though, she kept an eye on a lot of them. She worked in the Naughty and Nice department."

"Do you think they'd let me work there?"

"Maybe." I smiled at his unwavering curiosity, he was so excited for his dad to be Santa Claus. It was an excitement I hadn't seen too often on any of the kids of legendary figures growing up. None of the Easter bunnies wanted the egg basket. It took forever and a day to eventually taken on the role of Father Time, which was a problem since his sons seemed to live too much in the present. The only two who I've seen to take their father's place because they wanted it were the Miser cousins: Jack Frost and Aiden Blaze.

Jack and Aiden were the youngest sons of 'Snow Miser' and 'Heat Miser'. While their names aren't similar to the names given to them in the Rankin Bass short film, it is what they are most well known as. Most humans have only heard of Jack and those who have seen the Rankin Bass film remember the two brothers who control the weather. No one has ever heard of Aiden, but it's supposed to be that way. Jack, due to his narcissism, always pushed to be the center of attention in every room he walked into even if it was at the expense of others who had been more deserving. For centuries, he pushed to be a main player in the Christmas season. While he hadn't quite had the gull yet to upstage Santa, he did draw enough attention to himself to be put on the Legendary Council, which was a first for a season herald. The other three have never seen and will never see that luxury. There's a herald for every season:

Jack Frost: Winter. He brings in the season and is supposed to help with the winter holidays, having the most to do at Christmas, and control the winter weather in the areas that need it. If it's freezing outside and there's ice and snow everywhere blame him.

Isla: Spring. She keeps the peace between Jack and Aiden while helping with Easter. She's not as important as Jack or Aiden, she has the ability to tamper down Jack's, so that Aiden can eventually go do his job.

Aiden Blaze: Summer. He brings in the season and controls the warmer weather throughout the year. He never assists with a holiday unless he has to intervene against Jack and thaw him out.

Orla: Autumn. She keeps the peace between Aiden and Jack while helping with Halloween. Like Isla, she's not as important as Jack or Aiden. She has the ability to tamper down Aiden's powers, so that Jack can come in and take over.

Two out of the four heralds are some of the kindest souls you'll ever meet, while the other two are the most challenging. Jack was difficult no matter what situation and Orla only was pleasant to be around for Jack, not that he enjoyed her company. I've only ever known him to be fond of one person and that was Heidi.

"When my dad leaves for the North Pole, do you and Sasha have to go to?" Charlie asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Maybe." I answered. There wasn't a plausible way for us to stay, we didn't age like humans did. We'd have to be human to stay, and even if I wanted to, it'd be unfair to Sasha to stay. I wouldn't make Sasha stay behind, she's been wanting to go home for so long. That's the thing about being an elf, even if your only half. Once you've found your one, you don't fall in love with anyone else.

"I don't want you to go." He responded.

"Neither do I."

Sasha's POV

"Are you sure you can't come back earlier?" Bernard asked as we started to clear the dishes, "The elves have missed you..."

I melancholily listened as he continued to persuade me to come back or at least visit the Pole while Scott (whom he only referred to as Santa) was going through his transformation. And while he fumbled around the words, I knew the meaning behind them. It was the same little verbal dance we used to do centuries ago, a dance I intended to change. We've been apart for too many years - 394 if want to be exact, but who's counting. That's only 143,810 days where I have regretted not getting out of that sleigh or going back for my locket later. One hundred forty-three thousand eight hundred ten days, I missed being with Bernard and regretted not telling him how I felt sooner. Where I missed out on the possibility to start new life with him. I'm lucky I got this second chance to be with him and I wasn't going to screw it up this time, not when I knew he felt the same way. I couldn't go back to the Pole so soon though, it wouldn't be fair to Allie.

"I've missed you too," I responded, pulling at his hand gently to turn him to face me, "but I can't. I have Allie and she loves it here, I don't want to pull her away before I have to. And when Scott accepts the truth, he's might need help getting everything done. The earliest I can comeback is Thanksgiving."

Bernard sighed and looked down, knowing that was the answer he was going to receive. I lifted his chin, so he would look back up at me, "If it were just me, I would leave with you now. I wouldn't have even left the Pole."

As Auld Lang Syne started to play on the radio, I leaned in and kissed him softly. As I started to pull away, he pulled me back to him.


	8. Chapter 8: Career Conundrum

**Chapter Eight: Career Conundrum**

 _"_ _About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won't like you at all." ― Rita Mae Brown_

 **Allie's POV**

Career day had never been my favorite day of the school year that I've had to sit through. They've always seemed so pointless. Half of the adults didn't want to be there and most of the kids didn't want to listen. I looked back at Charlie to see how he was doing during the fireman's horror story that we stuck listening to, he had looked like he had been fighting to stay awake cause he didn't want to fall asleep with his parents and Neil sitting next to him. The rest of the class looked mortified. If Miss Daniels were a better teacher and more intune with her students, she would have cut him off sooner instead of letting him continue with his story. Not only did she let him continue, but she thanked him and wanted us all to apologize for his fallen comrade. In other circumstances I would, but it was his own damn fault his friend died. I know it sounds callous, but I didn't feel bad for him. I felt bad for the dude who died of third degree burns because of him. Miss Daniels suggested for Dr. Miller to go next in a desperate attempt to escape the awkwardness of the moment, but Charlie wanted Mr. Calvin to go up first instead.

 _'_ _Maybe I should have warned him about the Secret of Santa bit.'_ I thought as he and Mr. Calvin walked up to the front of the classroom.

There were many rules that came with being a Claus or having any interaction with the Pole in general. One of the most important ones was that no one could know that either truly existed. The Pole was meant to stay in the human mind a barren snowy land with myth and fairytale surrounding it. It was supposed to be as real as Atlantis or Narnia. Elves were supposed to be no more real than the ones of Middle Earth. There wasn't supposed to actually be a Santa Claus, it was just supposed a lie human parents told their children to make the season a bit more magical for a few years. Or at least that's what they were supposed to believe. If people didn't eventually grow out of believing in Santa Claus, there'd be a lot more work to do. The elves would never get the presents done on time, they'd have to start their work year even earlier, as would Santa. And if people ever found out that the Pole and Santa exists, forget it. The place would turn into a theme park.

"This is my dad, Scott Calvin." Charlie introduced his dad, "He's got a really neat job."

Mr. Calvin thanked him, thinking Charlie was done with his introduction, but Charlie continued.

"My dad is Santa Claus." Charlie informed the class, who in turn burst into laughter. This was not going to suit well for the two of us later.

"Oh boy." Mr. Calvin let out an uncomfortably awkward laugh and tried to steer the conversation to what he actually did, "I think what he means is I'm like Santa Claus. We're both giving, we're both jolly, and we both work very hard one day a year."

"That's not what I mean, Dad." Charlie sighed, and then started to explain what happened Christmas eve, pulling out his snowglobe. Mr. Calvin tried to correct Charlie, but it was to no avail. The class had already become too interested in his story.

"Do you make the toys?" Becky asked curiously.

"No, stupid, the elves do." Bobby retorted.

"Bobby, we don't say stupid and we don't say elves." Miss Daniels chastised, "They're little people."

"Actually, in many stories, elves are about the same size as humans." I corrected her, "They just age differently. To put them all under the descriptor of little people is inaccurate and is a better euphemistic term for a dwarf."

The entire class let out a collective groan, except for Charlie, who was smiling brilliantly. He always seemed to enjoy when I corrected Miss Daniels.

"In this context, Miss Kringle," Miss Daniels retorted, doing her best to control her tone, "They are little people."

"But they are elves!" Charlie argued.

"Whatever, honey." Miss Daniels dismissed him, not wanting to deal with the argument she would have to get into if the tangent continued further.

"Which one's your favorite reindeer?" Bobby asked.

"Comet." Charlie answered without hesitation. Comet had always been one of Sasha's favorites, along with Blitzen. I've always been partial to Vixen.

"I don't have a favorite." Mr. Calvin sputtered out.

"So, let me get this straight, Santa," Bobby spoke up again, "you mean when I grow up, if I want to be Santa Claus all I gotta do is push you off a roof?"

All of the adults were mortified by the assumption. Charlie glared at Bobby and opened his mouth to say something, but I beat him to it.

"What is wrong with you?"

Bobby, Charlie, and I were all sent to the principal's office along with their parents. Charlie was allowed to go back to class while his parents spoke to the guidance counselor. Bobby was taken home early by his father. I sat outside the principal's office waiting to be taken home. Sasha couldn't leave work, so I was stuck. I left my music box at home, so I couldn't call Bernard to come get me.

"What are you doing out here?" Mr. Calvin asked, sitting down next to me.

"Can't go back to class." I responded, "I'm supposed to be going home because this is the fourth time I've corrected Miss Daniels in front of the class."

"It's only Tuesday." Mr. Calvin said amused.

"I know, it's not my fault she's wrong."

"Or that you're smarter than she is." He said in a hushed tone, so only I could hear him. I smiled. He continued, "Let me talk to the Principal, Laura, Neil, and I are on your emergency contacts. I'm not going back to work today, maybe I can take both you and Charlie out. We'll drop off your stuff and maybe go see a movie and go to the zoo. What do you think?"

"Yeah!"

Mr. Calvin then stood and headed into the principal's office.

 **Bernard's POV**

"Make sure you go through it twice before you send that up to me." I instructed the Naughty and Nice elves on my way to see Quinton, "Make sure every page is there this time. The last list was missing children with the names beginning M through P."

The list was a mess, it would have to be reordered before it was sent to Santa. I can't go through it, however, I'm just an elf. It could only be changed by a Claus. I would need Sasha, Alessandra, or Heidi to change it before sending it to the new Santa. Since Sasha and Alessandra did not have all of their magic at the moment, Heidi would have to be called. I would have to do that after I had the list. If Heidi agreed, I only had one shot at her looking over the list. However, knowing her, I'd also have to get in contact with Jack, so he could convince her to come. That was a headache within itself. I'd rather have Sasha do it, if there was a way she could do it without magic.

"Quinton, what is it that you needed?" I asked as I headed into his lab.

"Actually, I have something for you." Quinton responded, "Well, this one is for Sasha." He picked up a watch from his desk, "It's a prototype, but it should enhance the magical abilities she has left while she's wearing it. Even if she doesn't have magic to do anything, she'll be able to use the watch."

"You're a genius." I smiled taking the watch.

"I try." He shrugged, before picking up a larger device, "This one is for you." He handed me a thin square object. "I took inspiration from the portable computers that humans use. I've added my own enhancements to it, of course, so you could do everything you needed to do here on it."

"I'd be able to stay with Sasha." I responded in realization.

Quinton nodded, "Until busy season starts."

"Who would take care of things up here?" I asked, more to myself than to him, "Curtis isn't ready to take on this type of responsibility, even if I emailed him step by step instructions. He's still in training for elf number two, he's got at least another decade before he's ready."

"That's why I made one for Judy." Quinton replied, "She's been Santa's personal assistant for the past four hundred years. She knows almost as much about this place as you do."

"I couldn't have picked anyone better." I told him, "Thank you." I left his lab to go pack.

 **Sasha's POV**

This day couldn't get any better. Today was my last shift at the diner and I didn't have to go back to the shop until Friday. I had saved enough money over the years to where I wouldn't have to take extra shifts or work late. If I had been wiser I would have invested my money decades ago. Most of it over the more recent years went to paying off student loans and other school related payments. While Allie and I were living in Massachusetts a decade ago, we managed to stay long enough so I could get my doctorate in literature and have Allie go to a private school that catered to her genius. The public school she goes to now truly did her a disservice. The only reason she's still in the school she's in is because of Charlie. He's the only real friend she's had in the past 394 years. I thought it would be better for her if she stayed somewhere she had a friend. If she wanted to read something more on her level, she had loads of books to choose from.

When I entered the apartment, I turned on the answering machine so I could check to see if we had any messages. We hardly ever did, but it was better to check and have no messages than to not check and miss something. Usually, if Ally were home, she would check the messages, but it was too early for her to be home now.

 ** _'_** ** _Hi Sasha, it's Scott. Allie was sent home early, there was an incident in class. I picked her and Charlie up. Laura will bring her back tonight.'_**

Scott's message was the only one on the machine. The school must have forgotten to call here or decided not to leave a message when they did. I didn't have to wonder why Allie was being sent home, it was always the same. Her teacher didn't like to be called out and corrected when she was misinformed and neither did the principal. Parent-teacher conferences never went well either since I would do the same thing just to piss them off, especially when they spoke to me like I was a child. Spending the day with Scott and Charlie would be more beneficial to her than sitting in class bored out of her mind would ever be.

I set my purse and jacket on the seat of one of the bar stools at the island, and then took off my shoes and placed them by the door. It was only one, so I had options for what I wanted to do. Not that I'd leave the apartment to do any of them. I had the rest of the day off, I wasn't going anywhere today.

"This is the first time I've seen you home before midnight."

My jaw dropped when I saw Bernard leaning against the frame of my bedroom door.

"What happened to-"

"Quinton found a way for me to stay here until busy season." Bernard responded before I could ask, "I also have a list for you to reorganize and categorize."

"Does it need to be looked at now?" I asked, "Or can it wait until tomorrow?"

"As long as we can get it to Santa by the end of the summer, it doesn't matter."

"How did the last Santa organize it?" I asked so I knew what I would be dealing with.

"Ordered by first names."

"So, we'll be working on it for a while then." I surmised, "We'll put a plan together tomorrow on how we want to tackle it."

Bernard nodded, "What do you want to do until then?"

"Sleep." I answered simply. I opened the diner and closed the store, there was nothing I wanted to other than to sleep right now. "You wanna to join?"

 **Allie's POV**

"Mr. Calvin, can I go look at the reindeer?" I asked while we were in the polar bear exhibit. It seemed like he had something to say to Charlie, but he didn't want to talk to him about it while I was around.

"Yeah, but wait for us there." Scott responded.

"Okay!" I agreed and ran ahead to the reindeer exhibit.

When I arrived in the exhibit, I noticed a lanky man with messily neat brown hair in a suit feeding the reindeer. None of the attendants noticed what he was doing and if any them did, they didn't seem to care.

"You shouldn't be doing that." I told him, "You could get in trouble."

"Only if I'm caught." He responded, "Humans don't see nothin', do they?"

I knew that voice as well as I knew my own name. I didn't have to question who he was before he turned around, the only question I had was why he was here. He had no reason to be.

"What are you doing here, Aiden?" I questioned.

"I had nothing to do and I wanted to see the new Santa." Aiden answered, "Doesn't hurt that warming this place up for while'll piss off Jack. Why you here, shouldn't you be up at the Pole? We figured you two would stay after you came back last Christmas."

"Who do you mean by we?" I questioned.

"Who do you think?" He countered, raising an eyebrow. The Heralds, and possibly Heidi, all knew we were stuck here and did nothing about it. The only ones with the power to do anything didn't care enough to bring us back.

"How long have you known?!"

"Calm down, Ales." Aiden responded, "I'm not the one to be angry with, I came across you two a year ago and you seemed happy, so I left you be. If you want to be angry with anyone, Jack found you both two centuries ago."

"Did Heidi know?"

"Not until I found you." He told me, leaning back against the railing, "She hasn't been around too much in the past few centuries to say anything to."

A few moments passed of silence passed, before he spoke up again, "You know you can't stay here, you're going to have to go home."

"I know." I sighed sadly, looking down.

"But you don't have continue to age the way you do."

My head shot back up after hearing that, "What?"

"See you around." He said before disappearing. Before I could question why he disappear, I saw the reasons making their way towards me.

"Dad, look!" Charlie exclaimed when he saw the reindeer, "They're just like the ones that pulled the sleigh."

I watched Mr. Calvin's face fall. Apparently, the conversation with Charlie didn't quite go the way he had wanted it to, which was better for everyone in the long run. The sooner Mr. Calvin accepted who he was, the less painful this process becomes.

"Is that why you wanted to see them, Allie?" Charlie asked me.

"I just love reindeer." I responded as vaguely as I could. If it were just Charlie and I, I would have said that they reminded me of home. However, with Mr. Calvin there and still in denial about who he was, I thought it was best to reply without actually answering his question. Charlie gave me a look, he knew full well what I was doing. I just smiled back at him as I did every time he sent me that look. We walked over to the railing to get a better look at the reindeer.

"Who were you talking to?" Charlie whispered to me, "I saw him disappear."

"He was a friend of my sister's." I responded quietly.

"Sasha's?" Charlie asked, "I thought her friend from the Pole was Bernard."

"Sorry, I have two older sisters." I told him, "I have Sasha, who you know, and then I have another sister, Heidi, who's older than Sasha. He was a friend of Heidi's. He's the reason why it's a bit warmer today. He was here out of curiosity, he wanted to see who the new Santa was."

Charlie's eyes widened, before he could say anything Mr. Calvin called over to us.

"C'mon you two, we have to get back home."

The three of us headed out of the reindeer exhibit to the entrance of the zoo in silence.

"I know who you are, Dad." Charlie spoke up, "You'll figure it out soon enough. There are a lot of kids that believe in you. You can't let them down."

"Charlie, you're wrong." Mr. Calvin responded adamantly before a faint grunt came from behind us. Charlie and I turned our heads to see what was behind us to find the eight reindeer from the exhibit had followed us out.


	9. Chapter 9: Inquiries

**Chapter Nine: Inquiries**

 **Sasha's POV**

Weeks passed, Scott still denied anything ever happened, which wasn't unusual. The only Santas that never questioned the being or transformation were the ones descended from previous Santas or other legendary figures. My father fit into this category, he was the son of a legendary figure who happened to become Santa. Here's the thing about being the kid of a legendary figure, they don't physically age like humans do while they're that legendary figure. This is different for the children of Santa Claus though. Since most Santas are human, it all depends on if both parents are human. My father was the human son of a legendary figure, which one it was, however, has remained a mystery. The only thing we knew was that he chose to be human. Scott Calvin was not like my father, he was born human. There'd be no reason for him to believe that any of this was actually happening. He had outgrown the belief of Santa, and magic in general, years ago. Of course, it would be difficult for him not to be in denial. I would be slightly worried for his sanity if he took what was happening to him at face value. Bernard and I used his denial to our advantage. Since he still showed no real signs of the transformation, except for some weight gain, we could take our time on everything we needed to do.

The first thing that needed to be done was the List. The Naughty and the Nice List was always the first thing to be taken care of when a new Santa going through their transformation as well as after they finish it, depending if a Claus was available. When I worked in the Naughty and Nice department, it was part of my job to take care of the List preparation for each new Santa. For years, I organized the List the same way. It was the way my father used to have it organized. He categorized the List into three different parts. First, the children's names would be split up by country and those countries would be ordered alphabetically. Second, in each individual country's list, the names would then be further divided into region, providence, or state, which would be subdivided even further into city, village, or town. Lastly, the names would be alphabetized by surname and the names that are shared or common would then be ordered by first name. It was daunting to compile, but the Santas who agreed to use this method always had an easier time checking the List. I knew it was simpler for me when I had to go through it. The Santas who chose to organize it in any other way, usually made the process harder since they only ever wanted the List sorted in one way. With a list so expansive, it had to be categorized in multiple ways for it to be manageable.

Why does it matter how the List is sorted? That's one of the first questions every Santa asks when they're given their complete run through of how everything works and is run after they complete their transformation. Here's the answer in a nutshell:

The List is the one sole object that controls everything that's done in the workshop connected the human world. The easier it is to read and find specific names, the more efficient the workshop as a whole runs. Elves from all over the Pole depended on the Naughty and Nice Department and the List, it was the reference for everything that came out of the workshop.

The elves in the Mail Department used the list to make recommendations to the toy department on which gifts should be made. The nicer the child was, the more likely they were to get exactly what they wanted. The more misbehaved, the less likely they'd get something they wanted.

The Toy Department used to the list to determine how personalized the gift was. If the child was perfectly behaved, which had to be confirmed by the Naughty and Nice Elves who took shifts watching them, they would get exactly what they asked for with every detail included. The less behaved, the less personal details were included in the specific toy they were given

The List and the Naughty and Nice Elves dictated how many gifts the kid got as well, which usually ranged between one and three. If you were on the Nice list and behaved all year, you got three items that you wanted. If you were on the Naughty list, you got one item or toy that was something more generic and easy to make. Just because you're on the Naughty list, it doesn't mean you don't get a gift. The 'C' for coal was more symbolic, I've never known a Santa to take that description literally.

The List can also determine where Jack Frost goes on Christmas and Christmas Eve (if he chooses to listen). Sometimes if the elves want to make the holiday a little more magical, the Messenger Elf would be sent to Jack with a list of all of the cities and towns (where it could snow) with the most well behaved children, so he could give them a White Christmas.

Having to reorganize the list was a chore, one made better by the elf sitting next to me. Last time I sat down with the List was over four hundred years ago. I can't remember the year, but I remember the night. Bernard and I sat for hours working on it. Elijah wanted it finished by the next morning, so I had to press through several hours of staring at hundreds of pages and rearranging names here and there. I was lucky that Santa chose to organize the list by location. It was just the names that had to be reordered. Since Bernard was only a letter sorting elf, he wasn't allowed to touch the list. He did stay the entire night though. He told me stories about the legendary figures and their children. He also told me stories from Elfin folklore that his mother used to tell him when he was little. He may have not have been able to help me organize the list, but he did keep me awake the entire night. This go around, we worked on the list as a team. He knew the kids and I knew the list. He may have not been able to change the list himself, but he could easily give me the information I needed to edit the list.

So, there we sat. Me with the list and him with his laptop. He still told me stories as we worked. He shared stories about the different Santas I had missed. The Santa he had yet to tell me about was the one who had fallen odd Scott's roof. He went into detail about every other Santa, but not a word about that one.

"What happened to the last Santa?" I asked. There was something off. I didn't know what it was, but something wasn't setting right with me. The Santa used the ladder, which had been unusual, and he made a hell of a lot more noise than he usually did when he made his runs. The night in general just seemed to fall into place too easily. I know I saw the body, but thinking back on it. I swiftly glanced at the watch Quinton had made for me, how much of my abilities did this thing actually return?

"He fell off the roof." Bernard responded nonchalantly, "You were there when it happened."

"Yeah, I saw the body of a Santa who had fallen off the roof." I confirmed, "I want to know if it was the Santa."

"What would make you think-"

"None of the elves looked upset to see a new Santa."

"We don't usually grow attached to the human Santas."

"If they're not around long enough, you don't." I agreed, "But they looked happy to see Scott, like they haven't seen a new Santa in weeks, which is impossible because one fell from Scott's roof."

"They were ecstatic because the last Santa was a tyrant." Bernard corrected.

"Bernard," I set down the page I was working on and turned to face him, "What happened?"

Bernard sighed and looked down, "My job is to look after and protect the elves, even if it's against Santa. The last Santa treated all of us like dirt and would scream at the younger ones when they messed up an assignment, which would cause them to not show up the next day and when they did, they were too terrified to seek help on how to do their work. I couldn't let it continue, I'm ashamed that I let him continue as long as he did. When I approached the legendary council about him, they didn't care. I was just an elf complaining about a Santa to them. When Aiden visited last year, he saw how we were being treated and said he could help us. If I could figure out a way to get rid of the other Santa, he had someone who could replace him."

"How'd you do it?" I asked. Bernard wasn't the type to devise a murder, but I wouldn't put it past him to find an alternative way of getting rid of a Santa if need be. We both would.

Bernard took a deep breath and looked up at me, "He said that 'he wished he had never become Santa at all' often, so I gave him his damn globe without telling him what the Escape Clause was. He disappeared right before he had to leave. He didn't allow any of the elves in the stables when he was getting ready to go, so none of them knew that Santa had disappeared."

"Who was on the roof then?"

"The only one who could put on the coat and suit and not be subjected to contract."

"An elf." I nodded.

"Elijah agreed to suit up, delivered gifts so that we could stay on schedule, and find the Santa Aiden had in mind."

"I checked his pulse after the fall, he-"

"Was wearing a gadget Quinton invented specifically for that night that made his pulse undetectable and he had too much padding on him for the fall to kill him. We had him sent to the infirmary immediately after he got back. Other than some cuts and bruises, he's fine."

"So who all knows?"

"Me, Quinton, Judy, Aiden, and now you."

"And the Santa who's now in some alternate reality."

"Better him there than here." Bernard responded, "He's gone, the elves are content with the new Santa, and I have you."

"It's an amazing coincidence that Aiden found someone who happens to know Allie and I."

"I don't care how he picked him or why." Bernard stated, "This Santa is already more tolerable and capable than the last one."

"You've only met him once."

"True, but you seem to like him and that's enough for me."

 **Allie's POV**

"I know you said that Santa's kids don't live at the pole, but can they visit?" Charlie asked.

"I guess it would depend on the situation." I answered as best as I could as we sat on the jungle gym on the lower half of the split level playground. No one ever played down here, so it was the best place to hide during recess. It's where we've spent every recess since Career Day, we hid from the other kids and Charlie would ask me questions about the Pole, other Santas, and other things related to Christmas.

"Why doesn't my dad believe he's Santa?" He asked after a few moments, "He should believe it by now."

"It takes time." I placed my hand on his, not knowing how to comfort him. Being told over and over that what had happened was all in his head was affecting him. Hell, living with a shrink that was trying to analyze him every second he got was affecting him. Neil didn't quite understand how to leave his work at home and, unfortunately for Charlie, Charlie's mom was too in love with Neil to see or care what Neil was doing to Charlie. Little by little, Neil was trying to take away Charlie's imagination. A kid should be able to have fantasies and believe in magic without having to worry about someone trying to take them away. Mr. Calvin was becoming Santa was real, but since we were dealing with human adults, Charlie and Scott's sanity was pulled into question. Scott was merely in denial, it was Neil and Charlie's mom who were the problem.

"Something's are just too extraordinary to believe at first." I shrugged, "I'd recommend him meeting Bernard again, but new Santas aren't supposed to see any elves while they're still going through their transformation. Thinking about it though, it would probably be a bad idea. Seeing Bernard in regular clothes might convince him even more that it was all a dream."

"Regular clothes?" Charlie tilted his head in confusion.

"He's living with us for a while." I responded, "He wanted to wear something a little less flamboyant."

"What's flamboyant?"

"In this context, it means clothing that's noticeably unusual in style." I answered, "His Christmas sweater and bells would have made him look a little conspicuous." I added and then before he could ask I told him, "It would have made it harder for him to blend in with everyone else. The more you stand out in this world, the worse people can treat you. Sasha and I found that out the hard way over the years."

"How old are you?"

"Eight." I answered. It wasn't a lie, eight would be my human age equivalent.

"How long have you been eight?"

"A while." I responded vaguely. Charlie let the topic go, satisfied enough with the answer he was given and knowing well enough not to push the subject because he knew he wouldn't get a different answer. I didn't want him to think I was ancient. In every way that mattered, we were the same age. I just happened to be stuck in that specific age longer than he is.

 **Sasha's POV**

"Okay, if you can write down the next set of names on a piece of paper, I'll add it to the List when I get back." I told Bernard as I made sure I had everything I needed, so I could head out.

"I thought you weren't working til Monday." Bernard commented.

"I'm not." I replied, "I've got a parent teacher conference to go to, and then Allie has soccer tryouts. I'm taking both her and Charlie. The Millers and Scott are all working, so I'll be bringing him back here. Is that going to be a problem?"

Bernard shook his head, "No, there's nothing technically in the handbook about children seeing elves outside the Pole."

"Because it's never been done on purpose." I responded.

Humans saw elves all of the time, not that they knew. The Pole had scouts all over the world, they were a section of grounded E.L.F.S. taken care of by retired elves and children of legendary figures. The young elves training to be in E.L.F.S. had to spend two hundred years in the human world off of the grid and unable to communicate with the Pole. It was like the elf version of survival training, those who made it through scouting got to start flight school.

"Not once."

"Would it be a problem if we did?" I repeated.

"The only problem we'd have is if I have to hear about it from Curtis." Bernard answered.

That was fair. I wouldn't want to deal with Curtis either. While he always meant well, he was a stickler for the rules. I had to deal with him in the Naughty and Nice department and would often get into arguments with him. Arguments Elijah would have to break apart.

"Why'd you pick him?" I asked, "You can't stand him."

"I didn't."

"Okay, I definitely want to hear that story when I get back." I told him, "I'll see you in a few hours."

Bernard bid me farewell and I headed out the door.

When I arrived at the school, I was brought into the principal's office where Miss Daniels, Principal Compton, and Mrs. Forrest, the guidance counselor, were all sitting down waiting for me. This was a surprise, one I should have been told about. I wonder if this was the plan the whole time or if this was more of a last minute type thing.

"Please sit down, Miss Kringle." Principal Compton gestured to the open chair, "I'm sure this comes as a surprise for the meeting to be with all three of us."

"It is." I nodded, "Especially since I know my sister isn't an ill-behaved child."

Miss Daniels looked at me pointedly, "Your sister constantly corrects my lessons and says that I'm misrepresenting facts. She acts like she can teach the class better than I can!"

"She probably could." I scoffed, "This school was made aware of her intellect and I, I'm sorry you chose not to take me seriously. Allie's brilliant and completely bored in your class; if she's correcting you on what you're teaching, maybe it's because she knows more about the subject than you do."

"That's ridiculous." Miss Daniels retorted.

"No, this meeting is ridiculous." I corrected, "When Alessandra doesn't participate in class, you have a problem with it. When she does participate, you treat her as if she's done something wrong. How does she win? I have no solutions to your complaints, Miss Daniels, other than for you to stop complaining and study the subject matters you claim to be teaching, cause the way I see it Alessandra and I have been doing your job all year long when it comes to her studies. I give her the books she should be reading and books on anything she wants to study. She has no interest in going into a higher grade or transferring to a school that would actually challenge her and I'm going to respect her wishes on that, that's fine, what isn't fine is you calling me here for a behavioral problem my sister doesn't have."

Principal Compton looked at Miss Daniels, "Is Alessandra disrupting the class when she chooses to participate?"

"It's the principle of the matter." Miss Daniels argued, "The only time she participates is when she feels the need to correct what I'm saying."

"Is she right?" Principal Compton asked.

"That isn't the point." Miss Daniels replied, which basically meant yes. I've never known Alessandra to ever get something this trivial wrong.

"I'm not going to penalize a child for contributing to the learning process." Principal Compton told her, and then looked back over to me, "I apologize for this Miss Kringle, I was led to believe this was a more serious matter."

"Is there anything else?" I asked the three of them.

"Yes, I wanted to speak to you in my office, if you don't mind." Mrs. Forrest piped up. I nodded and she led me into her office. "We do not have the means to challenge Alessandra, you're right, but I might be able to place her in a program that could eventually lead to a more challenging educational path for her than what we can personally provide for her at the moment."

Challenging was not quite something a human school could provide her at the moment. Alessandra flew through elf school and started her apprenticeship early. I don't know if she found anything challenging, or at least nothing that could be taught in a classroom or learned from a book. College level courses would be the closest thing to challenging, but she didn't want to move ahead. She liked where she was.

"She wants to stay here." I responded.

"Then it's a good thing there is a program that would be after school and during the summer." Mrs. Forrest smiled, "I can work around any arrangements that need to be made for your sister, but I think it's better for her that we do something that stimulates her intellect. The basic math, science, and literature probably aren't going to do it for her, but we can provide her access to books, workbooks, summer school programs, governor's schools, and eventually advanced placement programs."

"I don't think Allie would ever turn down a book." I replied with a small smile, "Let me talk to her about it and I'll call you when she makes a decision. I can't decide anything for her when it comes to this, it has to be her decision."


End file.
